story: (CNN) -- The nephew and protege of an imprisoned Mexican drug cartel kingpin pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy charges in a federal court in Brownsville, Texas, on Monday. 
  
  Rafael Cardenas Vela, 38, admitted to being a "plaza boss" in the Gulf Cartel, which prosecutors said was responsible for smuggling thousands of kilograms of cocaine and marijuana into the United States from Mexico. 
  
  Cardenas Vela was arrested by federal agents during a traffic stop in southern Texas in October. 
  
  His uncle, Osiel Cardenas Guillen, led the Matamoros-based Gulf Cartel before he was convicted in 2010 on drug trafficking charges and sentenced to serve 25 years at the supermax prison in Fremont County, Colorado. 
  
  Cardenas Vela fled to the United States in May 2011 to escape an internal power struggle in the cartel after the November 2010 death of another uncle, Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. 
  
  He was still able to control his drug territory through the use of e-mails to key leadership within the cartel, the prosecutors said. 
  
  His operation purchased 70 to 80 kilograms of cocaine each month in southern Mexico, which was then smuggled across the U.S. border in small vehicles about 16 to 20 kilograms at a time, prosecutors said. 
  
  "At the time of Cardenas' arrest, it was discovered he had approximately 500 men equipped and ready to respond to his call," prosecutors said in a news release. 
  
  Cardenas Vela, who is scheduled to be sentenced on June 18, faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, a fine of up to $10 million and up to five years of supervised release, the government said. 
questions: What charge is the man in the story facing?
questions: What is the man's name?
questions: What was he bringing into the US?
questions: Where is he facing charges?
questions: Is there anyone else in his family that does the same thing he does?
questions: Who?
questions: What happened to this man?
questions: Where was he convicted?
questions: Has the man caught recently ran out of the country before?
questions: How much dope was he bringing out of that country?
questions: Over what time frame?
questions: When will he be sentenced?
questions: How did he plead?
answers: drug conspiracy charges
answers:  drug conspiracy charges
answers: Rafael Cardenas Vela
answers: Rafael Cardenas Vela
answers: cocaine and marijuana
answers: cocaine and marijuana
answers: Brownsville, Texas
answers: Brownsville, Texas
answers: Yes
answers: His uncle, Osiel Cardenas Guillen,
answers: His uncle
answers: His uncle
answers: he was convicted
answers: he was convicted
answers: U.S. border
answers:  U.S. border
answers: Yes
answers: Cardenas Vela fled to the United States in May 2011
answers: thousands of kilograms
answers:  thousands of kilograms
answers: each month
answers:  each month
answers: June 18
answers: June 18
answers: Guilty
answers: admitted to being a "plaza boss" in the Gulf Cartel